BWW Reviews: The Back Porch Players' TEA AND SYMPATHY is Incredibly Relevant and Extremely Powerful

The Back Porch Players are dedicated to presenting theatrical works that deal with the ideas of identity and social responsibility. They also uphold that the art form of theatre is a powerful teaching tool. They are currently producing Robert Anderson's TEA AND SYMPATHY, which had its Broadway premiere at the Ethel Barrymore Theatre on September 30, 1953. In its original Broadway production, it ran for over 700 performances and was adapted for film in 1956. However, the play wasn't given a major New York City revival until 2007, when The Keen Company produced the show at the Clurman Theatre. Even though the play is nearly 60 years old, it remains incredibly relevant and extremely powerful.

In TEA AND SYMPATHY, a 17-year-old boy at a prestigious boarding school is harassed, hazed, and teased by his peers for being effeminate. Unlike the other boys, Tom is sexually naïve, doesn't dawdle in the pursuit of cheap sex, doesn't roughhouse, and isn't overly aggressive in sports. Instead, he enjoys folk music, the dramatic arts, takes pleasure in conversations with housemaster's wife, and winning at tennis by cutting and slashing instead of overpowering his opponent. Tom's agonies grow exponentially when he falls under scrutiny for swimming naked with a male teacher, who is quickly dismissed for the violation. As a result of this infraction, Tom is presumed to be gay. The ensuing bullying Tom endures is seen as good for him by most of the other characters in the play, leaving him with only fleeting glimpses of support and compassion. Truly, the only thing that keeps this story from being contemporary to a 2013 audience is the 1950s colloquialisms, attire, and setting.

David Rainey deftly directs the startlingly relevant production, bringing life to every nuance and fascinating detail included by Robert Anderson in the script. Under his leadership, his cast skillfully illuminates the high stakes, fears, and concerns of the characters in the all too realistic plot. Immediately, the stifling and oppressive values of the boarding school and the questioning of these values hook the audience. Then, the intense and psychologically damaging bullying breaks our hearts. David Rainey seats us as passive observers in this discomfiting and unnerving tale to masterfully ensure that the 60-year-old mirror that the play holds up is pristinely unblemished. This mirror shows us the dangerous faults in the American ideals of masculinity and our own lackadaisical acceptance of bullying as part of coming of age. Moreover, this production encourages the necessary re-examination of these principals and self-reflection.

Taking center stage, Jacob Perkel as Tom Lee and Joanna Hubbard as Laura Reynolds, the housemaster's wife, deliver incredibly moving and touching performances. Jacob Perkel is perfectly brooding and melancholy as the constantly ridiculed Tom Lee. In the moments where the character can comfortably be himself, his warm smile is endearing and his personality charming. Jacob Perkel creates an engaging and complex character that the audience can't help but love and feel extreme sympathy and empathy for. Joanna Hubbard's Laura is Tom's biggest champion and questions the authority and integrity of the standard notions of masculinity. Her husband tells her that her only purpose in the house is to artificially give the boys "tea and sympathy" as a disinterested bystander, something her large heart simply won't allow her to do. Unhappy in her own mostly sexless marriage, Joanna Hubbard perfectly portrays Laura Reynolds' strength as she unabashedly confronts her husband on several occasions. Joanna Hubbard skillfully delivers the impactful climatic line, "Did it ever occur to you that you persecute in Tom, that boy up there, you persecute in him the thing you fear in yourself?," which earned several audible gasps from the audience. Additionally, her treatment of the play's famous curtain line, "Years from now, when you speak of this, and you will, be kind," is sincere, filled with subtly, and justly ends the production with grace.

Upholding the banners of American masculinity, Steve Bullitt's Bill Reynolds and Jim Salners' Herbert Lee are "manly" men, with interests in sports, the outdoors, and rowdy tales from their boyhoods. Both men embrace and exist in a world composed by the "Good 'ol boy network" and the fraternity-like mindset of corporate America. Pressured into marriage by his peers, Steve Bullitt's Bill Reynolds prefers the company of his boys on long hiking trips and is distant with his wife. Meanwhile, Jim Salners' Herbert Lee is trying to rationalize why his own son cannot and does not fit into society's rigid definition of masculinity. He disapproves of his son's interests in folk music, theatre, and the way he plays sports. The most disgusting aspect of Jim Salners' character is his acceptance and even encouragement of the bullying his son will have to face as he tells Tom Lee that the persecution is good for him.

Genial baseball star Al, Tom's roommate, played by Jonathan Downey is the most likeable of the boys Tom interacts with. In the privacy of their room, he shows compassion for Tom and offers surface level assistance. He also stands up from Tom against the other boys until he is warned by one of them that if he sticks his neck out too far it may get cut off. Yet, like the other boys in the play (David Clayborn's Ralph, Ben Scanlon's Steve, and Jeffrey Fato's Phil), he buys into the societal definitions of masculinity and virile manhood being passed down to him from his elders.

Elizabeth Black plays the talkative Lilly Sears with a sexually uninhibited and cynical tone. Cameron Cooper brings early urgency to the drama and the appropriate frustration and anger to his take on David Harris, the teacher being dismissed for swimming with Tom.

Scenic Design by Rachel Smith filled the space well, creating the layout of the rooming house as realistically as possible. Lighting Design by Eric Marsh was simplistic and effective, using ambers to keep the cast in realistic lighting. Costume Design by James McDaniel was mostly fantastic, especially the clothing choices made for Joanna Hubbard's Laura Reynolds and the dressy uniforms worn by the boys as they came from and went to classes. Little details were well attended to as well, such as the almost pencil-line thin wedding band worn by Steve Bullitt. However, the use of Nike brand ankle socks on Jacob Perkel's Tom Lee was distracting as they were inappropriate for the character and setting.

The Back Porch Players production of the once controversial TEA AND SYMPATHY by Robert Anderson is a timely examination of problems concerning gender and masculinity that still plague modern American society. Almost 60 years after the play was first produced on Broadway, it is shocking to see how little has changed.

Running Time: 2 hours and 20 minutes with one intermission

TEA AND SYMPATHY, produced by The Back Porch Players, plays at Main Street Theater - Rice Village, 2540 Times Boulevard, Houston, 77005 through August 18, 2013. For more information and tickets, please visit http://www.thebackporchplayers.com or call (713) 524-6706.

Image courtesy of The Back Porch Players.

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